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A review by midici
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
4.0
Into Thin Air is one man's account of the 1996 disaster on Mt Everest. In 1996, in one climbing season, 12 people lost their lives; most of the deaths occurred within the same summit attempt. Jon Krakauer, the author, was making the climb partially as part of his job as a journalist - he was to make a report about the growing commercialization of Everest and the amount of amateur climbers who were making the attempt as a result. He was also there to fulfill a life long dream of reaching the summit.
The book carefully goes through the entire climbing trip, pulling in details about fellow climbers, guides, sherpas, and others who were involved in the events as they unfolded. I appreciated the effort the author seems to have made to get as much information as possible, from as many people as possible. Between the lack of sleep, lack of oxygen, overall exhaustion, and the storm itself that caught several climbers trying to descend, there were several different account of key points. Several climbers never made it back, of course, so it's impossible to know exactly what happened.
There were a lot of possible reasons as to why everything went so wrong. Part of it was bad luck due to the weather. Part of it was human error - made from honest mistakes, or fear, or desperation. There were a lot of instances of people overcoming these obstacles to stubbornly try to save as many people on the mountain as possible. And there was the devastation when everyone realized exactly how bad the situation was, and the full scale of the death toll was realized.
A large reason for this book seems to have been Krakauer's way of trying to make sense of what happened. He owns up to what he feels were his mistakes - several of them very serious that may have partially led to the deaths of others. It's very difficult to say if he's being too hard on himself, or others. I've never done a serious, dangerous climb before and I can't imagine how I would deal with the situation. It's part of why the facts he has collected are so important - so one can look at the events with as much information as possible.
While this book definitely cemented my desire to NEVER attempt Everest, I understand, to a certain extent, why people do it. Everyone has their own internal sense of their limits, their own personal ambitions, and how far they want to push themselves. Some people are fulfilled just by trying new hobbies, or mastering new skills. Some people travel. Others strap on gas tanks and go as far below the ocean as they can even as their counterpoints make the opposite attempt and head up, towards the sky.
The book carefully goes through the entire climbing trip, pulling in details about fellow climbers, guides, sherpas, and others who were involved in the events as they unfolded. I appreciated the effort the author seems to have made to get as much information as possible, from as many people as possible. Between the lack of sleep, lack of oxygen, overall exhaustion, and the storm itself that caught several climbers trying to descend, there were several different account of key points. Several climbers never made it back, of course, so it's impossible to know exactly what happened.
There were a lot of possible reasons as to why everything went so wrong. Part of it was bad luck due to the weather. Part of it was human error - made from honest mistakes, or fear, or desperation. There were a lot of instances of people overcoming these obstacles to stubbornly try to save as many people on the mountain as possible. And there was the devastation when everyone realized exactly how bad the situation was, and the full scale of the death toll was realized.
A large reason for this book seems to have been Krakauer's way of trying to make sense of what happened. He owns up to what he feels were his mistakes - several of them very serious that may have partially led to the deaths of others. It's very difficult to say if he's being too hard on himself, or others. I've never done a serious, dangerous climb before and I can't imagine how I would deal with the situation. It's part of why the facts he has collected are so important - so one can look at the events with as much information as possible.
While this book definitely cemented my desire to NEVER attempt Everest, I understand, to a certain extent, why people do it. Everyone has their own internal sense of their limits, their own personal ambitions, and how far they want to push themselves. Some people are fulfilled just by trying new hobbies, or mastering new skills. Some people travel. Others strap on gas tanks and go as far below the ocean as they can even as their counterpoints make the opposite attempt and head up, towards the sky.